The present invention relates to maintenance apparatus in general; and more particularly, it relates to a vacuum device for vacuuming debris or water and collecting it in a container which may be tilted for disposing of the contents of the container.
The apparatus includes a base in the form of an annular support having an upright peripheral rim for engaging and holding the container during normal operation. Support wheels are mounted to the base for making the apparatus mobile.
A pair of supports extend upwardly from opposite sides from the base; and a handle having a general inverted U-shape is pivotally attached to the upright supports. The handle may be moved between a use position in which the handle extends above and to the rear of the apparatus for pushing it, and a dumping position in which the handle is rotated approximately 180.degree. from the use position. Preferably, the pivotal connections between the handle and the upright supports are offset relative to the axis of the supports so that the weight of the container and its contents is stable in both the use and dumping positions. A latch is provided for locking the handle to the upright supports in the use position.
The handle includes a pair of extension members, one located at either end of the handle, which depend from the handle in the use position to a point below the pivotal connection between the handle and the upright; and the container is pivotally connected to these depending extension members. Thus, when the handle is rotated from the use position to the dumping position, the depending members on the handle act to crank the container in an upward motion, dislodging the bottom of the container from the base, and raising it to an elevated position from which it is easily rotated for dumping.
An important feature of the invention is that the pivotal connections between the handle extensions and the container define a horizontal axis about which the container may be rotated and which is located near the vertical and lateral midpoints of the container. In other words, the axis of rotation of the container is near the center of mass of the contents of the container so that not much effort is required to tilt the container for dumping.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment accompanied by the attached drawing wherein identical reference numeral will refer to like parts in the various views.